


Of Princesses and Teddy Bears

by elandhop



Series: Stay [1]
Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Gen, adoption fic, adoption rocks, foster care fic, waverly and nicole's adoption plans take a turn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-08
Updated: 2018-08-08
Packaged: 2019-06-23 15:01:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15608859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elandhop/pseuds/elandhop
Summary: It wasn’t soon before her girlfriend came home with a plethora of newborn outfits, asking Nicole which one they should take her home from the hospital in. It’d been narrowed down to two custom-made outfits they’d ordered off of Etsy. One was lavender and boasted "Hello World! I’m Winnie" in gold letters, and the other was pink, with "The Snuggle Is Real" in white letters.orWaverly and Nicole await the arrival of their daughter





	Of Princesses and Teddy Bears

Preparing for a newborn was _easy,_ primarily because they knew a little girl would be entering their lives in a couple of days. They’d set up her nursery as soon as Nicole got the call at the police station three months ago. She’d left work immediately, and cruised down to the homestead with flashing lights, unable to contain her excitement.

Secretly, Nicole couldn’t believe in the moment that they’d been placed with a _girl._ She knew  Waverly wouldn’t be able to wait to dress the baby up in dresses and bows, and it wasn’t soon before her girlfriend came home with a plethora of newborn outfits, asking Nicole which one they should take her home from the hospital in.

It’d been narrowed down to two custom-made outfits they’d ordered off of Etsy. One was lavender and boasted _Hello World! I’m Winnie_ in gold letters, and the other was pink, with _The Snuggle Is Real_ in white letters.

They’re upstairs in the nursery, Waverly snuggled into Nicole’s side on the lavender rocking chair they painted together. The walls have been painted yellow, (with help from Doc to reach the high places) and sitting inside the crib are a bunch of stuffed animals.

“She can always wear _The Snuggle Is Real_ at her naming ceremony next week,” Nicole places her chin on top of Waverly’s head, as her girlfriend sighs.

“I still think _Hello World_ is cheesy, and Wynonna will make fun of it, but hey, it’ll make for some cute photos,” Waverly smirks, and Nicole presses a kiss to the crown of her head.

“She’ll be our little cheese, though, Mommy Waves.”

“Why oh why did you introduce me to Etsy of all things?” Waverly pokes Nicole’s chin with her index finger as her girlfriend smirks.

“Didn’t your addiction start when we bought Alice that dress for her first day of Kindergarten?”

“It’s only intensified with _time_ Nicole. Plus, _Kindergarten Never Looked So Cute_ is exactly the saying Wynonna would scoff at. Mission accomplished!”

Nicole laughs. “Hey, what can I say? Alice looked adorable.”

“What color hair do you think she’ll have, Mama Haught Stuff?” Waverly does her best to turn around and straddle Nicole, although the chair is rocking wildly and Nicole’s laughing, her favorite sound in the world.

Nicole steadies Waverly and wraps her arms protectively around her.

“Mmmm.”

“Let.” (She kisses Waverly’s forehead).

“Me.” (She kisses Waverly’s nose).

“Think” (And with that, Waverly’s kissing her lips fiercely).

“Plan worked, Haught Stuff? Get me all Haught and bothered?” Waverly notices the blush that creeps up Nicole’s cheeks and takes Nicole’s hands in her own.

It’s kind of a curse, or a competition (because thankfully they’re done with curses for now) between the two of them, using Nicole’s last name in context to see who can come up with the stupidest puns.

“I think…she will have…”

Nicole wants to say _red_ hair because that would make Waverly laugh.  They don’t know much about what the baby will look like, because they’ve never seen a picture of her biological mother or father.

Waverly’s looking up at her with doe eyes and a big smile when she feels a buzz and hears a familiar ringtone coming from her pocket.

“Baby, my phone.”

“Is it _them?”_

Nicole pulls out her phone, and low and behold; it’s the agency. She puts the phone on speaker, and muffled sounds come out the other line.

“Hello? Am I speaking to Nicole Haught and Waverly Earp?”

“Yes, it’s us, Nicole speaking.”

“Ms. Haught, Ms. Earp. My name is Leise Anderson; I’m with the Alberta Agency and…”

Waverly’s stomach does a flip, and although words are coming out the other line, all she can hear is

_I’m so sorry_

_I know how much you’ve prepared for a baby girl to foster_

_I know you eventually wanted this to lead to her adoption but_

_We’ve had cases where the mother decides after the baby’s born_

_In a way you were lucky she didn’t wait to decide until the hospital_

Leise is still talking, as Waverly’s eyes fill up with tears and Nicole’s voice begins to crack.

“So…so…we’re no longer parents? All the home visits, the papers, the background checks were for _nothing_ ” Nicole all but yells into the phone, and through her tears, Waverly can see the fire in her eyes.

“Ms. Haught, Ms. Earp, my condolences are with you. We…we have you at the top of our list, and…if you’d still like to foster we’ve got a little girl, she’s five and  needs immediate placement, she’s got no family…”

There’s silence on the other end of the line as Nicole and Waverly stare at each other. Waverly squeezes Nicole’s hand, and Waverly brings their foreheads together.

“What’re you thinking, Earp?” Nicole whispers, tears glistening in her eyes.

“Okay. She’s not Winnie but… we do this together, Haught.”

“Always. Baby. Always.”

“We want her, Ms. Anderson.”

Because they do.

“She’ll be different than a baby…. She has special needs.”

“Different?” Waverly chokes on the word.

“Yes. The child who needs placement uses a walker at times, has low vision and delayed speech. Insurance is working on getting her a wheelchair. Are you okay with that?”

_I_ _t’s about giving someone without a family one._

Nicole’s eyes go wide because.. _._

_She can’t help a special needs kid. She couldn’t in the past…_

“W-We’ll call you back in a few minutes.” Nicole’s eyes are full and expression unreadable as she clicks the button on the side of her phone to hang up.

“Baby?” Tears are pouring down Nicole’s face as Waverly’s expression crumbles.

“I _know we wanted Winnie and she won’t be Winnie but.”_ Everything Nicole hears Waverly saying to her is a blur because of the _beach._

“Baby.” Nicole’s hands are shaking as she tries to speak. “I need to tell you something.”

“Okay” Waverly wipes her eyes with the palm of her hand and tries to wipe Nicole’s, but she takes Waverly’s hand within her own.

“When Shae and I were together…”

“Oh, _God. Please tell me you don’t have a kid and you’re going to back out of this whole thing. Please tell me”_

“Waverly, no. When Shae and I were together, she had a little sister. Her name was Madison, and she had Autism. She had sensory issues, but she _loved_ to go to the beach. I mean she loved it so much, that Shae and I would take her from the time we got back from Vegas to the time we broke up. We just wanted to see her happy. Well, one day,  we went out too far and-”

“Oh _no. Nicole.”_

“I couldn’t fucking _save_ her, Waverly. She could barely swim, and we were stupid enough to go out too far and-”

“ _Baby.”_

 _  
_ “I’m scared, Waverly. I’m scared.”

“I’m so sorry you experienced that Nicole. I’m so sorry.” Waverly stands up and drags Nicole by the hand onto the fluffy carpet, and leans back against the crib.

“She’s five” Nicole rests her head on Waverly’s shoulder.

“Same age as Miss Alice, yup.” Waverly smiles a little. “Bet Alice would love someone to boss around.” With that, Nicole giggles.

“Nah, we’ll teach her how to stand up to Wynonna Junior.”

“You think we can do this, Haught? A five-year-old? I don’t know if I’m qualified to help a person with special needs. That takes a special person.”

“Waverly, you’re extraordinary. You don’t realize that, do you?”

“I want to try to help her if you do, Nicole. I know she’s not Winnie but… maybe this was meant to be?”

“I’m terrified, Waverly. But we’re a team.”

 

* * *

 

Two days later, Nicole is pacing, and Waverly’s sat on the couch, holding Alice close to her. Wynonna and Doc are in the loveseat opposite them, and the television is set to low volume.

“Should be here soon” Nicole says, picking at the threads of her blue sweater.

“My new friend is coming, Auntie Waves,” Alice says looking up at her aunt.

“Are you super excited to meet her?” Waverly asks, and Alice laughs as she tickles her. Waverly’s in a white sundress, and Alice is holding two stuffed bears from the crib.

“Why, don’t worry, Sheriff Haught. You’ve got this” Doc says, but even Waverly can tell he’s nervous by the way Wynonna is grasping his hand.

“Remember Alice; you need to be _gentle_ when you hug her,” Wynonna says and takes a deep breath. Waverly can’t help but notice that Doc places a gentle kiss on Wynonna’s cheek, and she wishes her girlfriend wasn’t pacing so she could comfort her too.

“The blue bear is for me, and the pink bear is for her,” Alice comments absentmindedly, not paying much attention to her mom.

Nicole gives up pacing and sits down on the couch next to Waverly.

After what feels like an eternity, there’s a knock on the door.

_This_ _is it._

Nicole smooths down her sweater and takes Waverly’s hand as they approach the door of the homestead.

“Love you, baby,” she whispers and opens the door, but not before Waverly kisses her on the cheek.

Standing outside the door is the most beautiful child Waverly Earp thinks she has ever seen.

As soon as the door opens, Nicole lets out the breath she'd been holding.

She’s so _tiny,_ much smaller than Alice. The girl is wearing bright blue plastic glasses, a blue dress, and Sketchers. Her red hair is in two pigtails. A colorful pink walker stands behind her, and at once, Waverly and Nicole bend down to greet her.

“Hi, sweetheart. I’m Nicole,” the sheriff says, and reaches her left hand out. The little girl gingerly takes Nicole’s hand and shakes it.

“I’m Waverly. If that’s too hard to say you can call me Waves, or really whatever you want.”

“Pretty.” The girl points to Waverly’s dress.

“Your dress is beautiful too.”

“This is Ariel,” Liese says.

“Like the princess!” Nicole exclaims and does a curtsey.

“You’ve got hair just like her; you know” Waverly smiles, and escorts the duo inside, not before saying “Your Majesty.”

Ariel lets go of Leise’s hand as soon as she sees Alice in the living room.

“Who’s _she_?”

Wynonna chuckles. “Tell her baby girl.”

Waverly clears her throat.

“Ariel, this is my sister Wynonna, and her daughter Alice. She’s five years old, just like-”

Before Waverly can finish her sentence, Alice is bounding over toward Ariel with the stuffed bears.

“I’m Alice Earp. I got you one. Mom says you’re going to be my new best friend while you live with Aunt Nic and Aunt Waves.” Alice pushes the bear into Ariel’s arms, and it drops to the ground.

“Mine?”

“Yeah, …it’s for you.”

“Oh.” Ariel tries to pick up the bear but stumbles and falls. Immediately tears start falling, and Nicole’s cop instincts rush in.

“It’s okay, sweetpea. Princesses sometimes fall” Nicole rushes over with the walker, and lets Ariel balance herself before handing her the bear. She crouches down to Ariel’s height.

“I bad girl.” Ariel covers her fogged up glasses with her hands. “Dropped da bear.”

“You’re not bad because you dropped the bear, not at all” Nicole says, and Ariel’s wailing comes down to a sniffle.

“Same hair,” says Ariel, as she reaches out and grabs a lock of Nicole’s hair and compares it to her own.

“You’re right, cutie.”

“I’m c _ute?”_

“The cutest,” Waverly walks over to Ariel and Nicole and bends down, so she’s sitting at Ariel’s level.

Suddenly, Ariel toddles away from the walker and sits in the middle of Waverly and Nicole, so they make a circle.

“Stay?”

“Yeah, you’re going to stay with us.” Waverly says.

“Alice?”

“Yup, Alice lives here too with her mommy and daddy,” and with that, Doc gives a little wave and grins.

Ariel climbs onto Nicole’s lap, and Nicole tenses up.

“It’ll be perfectly okay,” Nicole reassures the little girl as Waverly rubs her back.

“We’re so excited that you’re here,” Waverly says and presses a kiss to Nicole’s head. Ariel moves to Waverly’s lap.

“Okay. Can we play?” The five-year-old looks up at Waverly with wide eyes, and as her two new caretakers nod enthusiastically, Alice grabs onto Ariel’s hand.

“I’ve been waiting for you to ask that!” Alice exclaims.

As Alice asks Ariel what she’d like to play with and chatters on and on about how she’s so excited, they’ll be sharing a room, Nicole looks over at her girlfriend. It’s not about a newborn girl, dainty and delicate in blue. It’s about Ariel and giving her the best chance to thrive, with people that genuinely want her.

“We’ve got this, Haught stuff.” Waverly grins, and Nicole squeezes her hand, as they follow their daughter with her little pink walker toward Alice’s toy box.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed the little plot twist. As someone who is studying to become a Special Education teacher, and works with kids with disabilities, special needs adoption is close to my heart. I hope this fanfiction executed my feelings toward the topic. I know sometimes adoptions fall through at the last minute, and foster children change locations. I don't know if something like this could actually happen in real life, but I hope you enjoyed the story. Please let me know!
> 
> Also, I'd totally dress my kid in "The Snuggle Is Real" onesie!


End file.
